Medicare Part B Costs Too High?

News

Medicare Part B Costs Too High?

If you are enrolled in Medicare, you probably pay for Medicare Part B. Unless your state is paying it for you, you pay quarterly or your monthly social security check is being reduced by the amount of your premium..

You are probably paying $134 or less monthly or $402 or less quarterly. If you enrolled in Medicare before 2017, you are probably paying less.

If you are paying more, congratulations! This means that you had an above average income in 2015. You are probably paying an “Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount” or IRMA because of your income in 2015.

(You may be paying more due to a late enrollment penalty. I’ll cover that in another blog post.)

It may also mean that you are paying more than you should.

If your income has stayed the same, there may not be anything you can do about it. However, if your income has dropped since 2015, you may be able to appeal the increased premium.

See the table below to determine what you should expect to pay based on your 2015 income.

Your Income in 2015

Your Monthly Part B
Premium in 2017

File individual tax return

File joint tax return

Married but file separate tax returns

$85,000 or less

$170,000 or less

$85,000 or less

$134 (or less)

$85,001 to $107,000

$170,001 to $214,000

Not applicable

$187.50

$107,001 to $160,000

$214,001 to $320,000

Not applicable

$267.90

$160,001 to $214,000

$320,001 to $428,000

$85,001 to $129,000

$348.30

$214,001 and above

$428,000 and above

$129,000 and above

$428.60

If you are reading this and it is no longer 2017, you should be able to find the current table on Medicare.gov

You can appeal the increase if your 2015 tax return was inaccurate and you have amended it. You can also appeal if you have a reduction in income or a change in filing status due to one of these seven life-changing events:

Death of spouse

Marriage

Divorce or annulment

Work reduction

Work stoppage

Loss of income from income producing property

Loss or reduction of certain kinds of pension income

You will find an more information about filing an appeal to reduce your Medicare Part B premium on hhs.gov.